Don't worry guys. I haven't gone anywhere.
Well actually, I just lied. (Sorry.) I did go somewhere. I went to Canterbury to visit my grandfather. And I took pictures!!
So to recap the last few days that I haven't blogged, here's a short list of what you would have seen:
-Lots of good cooking
-Lots of pubs
-Lots of shandy (Yummy fizzy lemonade/beer combination)
-Lots of playing cricket/football with my cousins
-Lots of knitting
There you go. Dad arrived on Monday morning and Neil went to fetch him from the airport. I cooked Tuesday evening and would like to proudly point out that there were no leftovers and then yesterday it rained solidly from about 5 in the morning until about 8 at night. No breaks. I've never seen such persistent weather in my life.
Dad and I left Uncle Neil's house at about 10:30 to pick up Pippa from the airport, where she'd been visiting her daughter in Ibiza (which I just learned how to spell properly yesterday...) and then we all carried onto drive to see my Grandad.
We all survived the trip in one piece... and without having been poisoned due to lack of sanitary conditions. My grandad will be 88 in November. He still lives alone and I don't think he even realizes he has a dishwasher... Or he doesn't know how to use it. (Whenever he offered any of us anything, we offered to get it instead... if only just to give it a good wash first.) 
(That's his kitchen)Here are a few pictures around his house. (This house has looked the same since I was born!)
(This is the staircase that should, and likely, does not meet any building codes... when it was built or now. I cannot believe my 87 year old grandfather manages to get up these steps. Ever. I can barely make it up them without thinking that I'm going to fall back down. )
Yesterday before we went to Grandad's house, we stopped off in Canterbury, because I wanted to go into Canterbury Pottery.
This place is seriously the coolest place ever. The pottery there is amazing. Worth every cent you spend, really. It's right across the square from the entrance to the Cathedral. One of the coolest things about the store is that the man who creates everything (it's a family owned thing. Dad says he remembers when the man's mother ran the store!) remembers us every time.
I walked in there three years ago when I was there, and said nothing but "Hello" when he said "Oh, you're one of those Texans! Welcome back." It's so cool to go back there and chat with him every time.
So I bought a mug and a teapot for college. I can't wait to use them. They are gorgeous. (As an aside, I have drank so much tea here, that I think that I will come back made of tea. If I come back with a faint brown tinge to my blood, I would not be surprised.)So, back to Grandad's. We went out to this wonderful fish place for dinner. It's right on the shore. Dad and Pippa devoured their food within minutes... it was quite funny. I tasted the battered cod. I was doing well, but then I saw the scales and was completely turned off. I stuffed myself on chips (that's french fries, my American friends) and baguettes (French bread).
Later on that evening, I walked the short distance to the shore and enjoyed the breeze.
(This is the little corner shop that Duncan and I would walk to when we were little to get our chocolate fix.)
And another panorama picture!
It had finally stopped raining and I love the shore at Tankerton. 
It's one of those places that no matter how many times you go to it, you feel connected with yourself. I've been there countless times before at all different ages and parts of my life so far... and it is the same every time. 
I love that place. 
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